Signments



(No Model.) 2 S heetsSheet 1.

H. T. VANDERHOOF. AMALGAMATOR.

Patent-ed Aug, 21, 1883.

WITNESSES INVENTQR:

ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS. Pmwumn m. wmmmm mv c.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

H. T. VANDERHOOP.

AMALGAMATOR. No. 283,540. Patented Aug. 21, 1883.

WITNESSES: Wflfi INVENTOR- /g 5* ywmww /f BY Mum ATTORNEYS.

N. PETLRS. mm-Lim u tm. Wnhingtou. 0, c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY T. vnnnnnnoor, on new YORK, n. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY nnsnn AS-SIGNMENTS, TO .THE HAMILTON LEAD BATH COMPANY,

PLACE.

OF SAME AMALGAMAYTOR.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters lPate nt No. 283,540, datedAugust 21, 1883.

Application filed January 1 3, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, HENRY T. Vnnnnn-HOOF,'Of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented-a newand useful 1m- 5 provement in Ainalgamators, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a sectional side elevation of my improvement. Fig.2, Sheet 2, is a sectional plan view of the same, taken through thebroken line a m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3, Sheet 2,

' I 5 is an elevation of the rack and gear-wheel for operating thebucket-clearer, showing the reverse side from that shown in Fig. 1, andpart of the bucket being broken away. Fig. 4, Sheet 2, is arearelevation of the rack and gear-wheel, and showing a bucket in section.

The object of this invention is to facilitate the-introduction of orebeneath the surface of molten lead in amalgamating.

The invention consists in an amalgamator constructed with an endlesschain of buckets for carrying the ore downward into and dis charging itin the lower part of a kettle of molten lead, and in a revolving doublecone 3c and inverted conical hopper for distributing the ore through thelead. The buckets are made with apertures in their bottoms, and areprovided with skeleton clearers rota-ted by a gear-wheel, andastationarycurved rack at the lower part of the lead-kettle, so that the saidbuckets will be emptied in the said lowerpart of the kettle. l

A represents the kettle which contains the lead, and in which the leadis kept molten by 40 heat from a furnace. (Not shown in the drawings.) p

B is the driving-shaft, which revolves in bearings in brackets (3,attached to the easing or frame of the amalgamator or other suitablesupport. To one end of the shaft Bis attached a fast pulley, D, and aloose pulley, E, to receive the driving-belt. To the shaft B is attacheda beveled-gear wheel, F, the teeth of which mesh into the teeth of thebeveled-gear wheel G, attached to the upper end of the vertical shaft H.The shaft H revolves in bearings in the frame-work of the amalgamator,

and extends down into the inclined offset or chamber I, formed in theside of thekettle A, and called by me the feed-chamber. To the lower endof the shaft His attached abeveled-gear wheel, J, the teeth of whichmesh into the teeth of the beveled-gear wheel K, at-

tached to ajournal of the upper chain-wheels,-

L. The journals of the chain-wheels L revolve in bearings attached tothe frame or walls of the ainalganiator, and around the said wheels passthe endless chains M, which are connected and kept in proper relativeposition by rounds N. The endless chains M pass around chain-wheels O,journaled to stand ards 0, attached to the middle part of the bottom ofthe kettle A.

To the alternate links of the chains M are attached buckets I thebottoms, backs, and fronts of which are perforated or have slots orother shaped apertures formed through them for the passage of the moltenlead.

To the ends of the buckets P are journaled shafts Q, to which, at theinner sides of the said ends, are attached radial arms R, which areconnected in pairs by thinbars S, the arms it being made of such alength that the bars S, as the shafts Q, are revolved, will sweep alongthe inner surfaces of the said buckets P and separate the ore in thesaid buckets from the walls of the buckets and allow the moltenlead toenter through the apertures in the buckets and force out the said ore.

To one of the journals of each shaft Q is attached asniall gear-wheel,T, the teeth of which, as the bucket P, with which it is connected,is moving upward around the lower chainwheels, 0, mesh into the teeth ofthe rack-bar U, attached at its lower end to the bottom of the kettle A.bar U is curved upon the arc of a circle having its center in the axisof the chain-wheels 0, so that each cl carer Q R S will be revolved Thetoothed surface of the rack I automatically as its bucket P moves upwardaround the chain-wheels O.

The upper end of the carrier should be so arranged that the buckets 1?,when passing over the tops of the chain-wheels L, will rise above thesurface of the molten lead, which stands about at the 1ead-line V V V.

The ore to be operated upon is fed into the upper part of thefeed-chamber I through a.

IO chute, W, or by other suitable means.

To the end of the drive-shaft B is attached a small beveled-gear wheel,X, the teeth of which mesh into the teeth of the larger bev- To thelower end of the pipe a is attached an inverted funnel or conicalhopper, c, the inner surface of which may be roughened by grooves orcorrugations d, which gradually decrease in size toward the smallerupper part of the said inverted hopper c. Inthe upper part of theinverted hopper c, at thelower side of the collar 12, are formedtransverse slots or I openings 6, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

To the lower end of the shaft Z, in the upper part of the invertedhopper c, is attached a head, f, made in the form of a double cone. Thedouble cone f may have the-surface of its upper part, or of both parts,roughened by grooves or corrugations g, which become smaller as theyextend upward. The inclination of the upper part of the double cone fis.

made steeper than the inclination of the in: verted hopper 0, so thatthe annular space be tween the said upper part of the double cone f andthe said hopper 0 will gradually become 5 narrower, as shown in Fig. 1.The lower part of the double conef projects below the lower edge of theinverted hopper c, as shown in Fig. 1. -The lower part of the invertedhopper a has a recess or slot, 71, formed in it for the passage of theendless chain of buckets, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the lower end ofthe endless-chain ore carrier can be placed in such a position that theore will be discharged di rectly beneath the double cone f.

To the pipe a, above the inverted hopper c, are attached a series ofalternating plates, z j. The plates L incline upward from the pipe atoward the walls of the kettle A, and the plate 3' inclines upward fromthe walls of the kettleA, to which its outer edges are attached,

toward the pipe a, and has slots 7c, formed in it near the said pipe a.The upper plate, '0 projects over the edge of the kettle A and is soformed that the refuse from the ore will pass over the said edge andfall into the refusepit l, whence it can be readily removed.

ner surface of the said buckets, so that the ore will be forced out ofthe said buckets by the upward pressure of the lead through theapertures in the buckets, and will rise through the lead. As the orefrom the buckets 1? rise in clumps it is guided by the lower parts ofthe double cone f and of the inverted hop per a into the space betweenthe upper parts of the said double cone and inverted hopper, where it iscrushed and distributed by the revolution of the said double cone,escapes through the apertures e, and rises through the lead along thelower sides of the plates 2' j, so that the lead will come in contactwith every particle of the ore, and will abstract all the gold andsilver there may be in the said ore.

Having thus described my invention, Iclaim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. An amalgamator constructed, substantially as hereinshownand described, with an endless chain of buckets for carrying theore downward into and discharging it in the lower part of anamalgamating-kettle, andof a revolving double cone and an invertedhopper for distributing the ore through the amalgamating material, asset forth.

2. In an amalgamator, the combination,.with the ore-carrying buckets P,having apertures in their bottoms, of rotary clearers andthe gear-wheelsT and toothed rack U, substantially as herein shown and described, whereby the said buckets will be emptied automati cally while in the lowerpart of the lead-kettle.

3. In an amalgamator, the combination, with the kettle A, the curvedrack U, and the apertured ore-carrying buckets I, of the shafts Q,journaled in said buckets, the clearers R S, and the gear-wheels T onthe ends of the said shafts,- substantially as herein shown anddescribed;

4. In an amalgamator, the combination, with the. endless-chain bucketsP, provided with rotary clearers, of the inverted conical hopper 0,having slot h for the passage of the endless chain of buckets, thedouble cone f, and' means for operating the same, substantially asherein shown and described.

5. In an amalgamator, the combination, with the vertical rotary shaft Z,of the double cone f and the inverted conical hopper c, substan-- tiallyas herein shown and described, where by the clumps of ore are brokenupand distributed through the lead, as set forth.

6. In an amalgamator, the combination, with the endless chain of bucketsI, provided with gear-wheel U T to loosen the ore from the in- 75 rotaryelearers, of the inverted conical hopprovided with the aperture 0, andthe plates per 0, provided with the corrugations d, the i j,substantially as herein shown and de- 10 aperture e, and the slot h, andthe double eonef, scribed. I provided with corrugations g, substantiallyas T T IT v 5 herein shown-and described. i HENETL A} DDRHOOF' 7. In anamalgamator, the combination,with A Witnesses: the kettle A and therotary double eonef, of JAMES T. GRAHAM, the tube a, the invertedconical hopper c, 0. SEDGWICK.

